Despite being expected to come to an end along with 2019, it appears that the Epic Games Store is going to continue its weekly game giveaways for awhile yet. After finishing the year with 12 freebies over 12 days, and starting 2020 with three more, Epic has made the hand-drawn Metroidvania Sundered: Eldritch Edition free for the taking, and has another one teed up for next week. 

Sundered is up for grabs until 11 am ET on January 16, at which point Horace, "a massive platformer with an even bigger heart," will take its place. Horace, which released on Steam in July 2019, isn't actually available on Epic yet, but is slated to be free from January 16-23.

Epic still hasn't formally committed to ongoing free games in 2020 as far as I know, but neither has it said (or even hinted) that the well is about to run dry. And for now, the new games are still coming, so we'll continue to remind you about them when they show up. After all, nobody wants to miss out on free stuff, right?

You can grab Sundered for free here, while Horace—when the time comes—is here.

The Epic Games Store began giving away weekly free games in May to mark its first big sale, a process it extended in June to the end of 2019. It wrapped up the year in a big way, with 12 daily giveaways. Then 2020 rolled around, and we got three more free games.

And that's not the end of the ride either. Darksiders, Darksiders 2, and Steep are still free for now, but once January 9 arrives, Sundered: Eldritch Edition will take their place. Sundered is a hand-drawn Metroidvania developed by Jotun studio Thunder Lotus, in which players can either resist or embrace ancient Eldritch powers. That sort of thing rarely comes without a price, and, oh yes, here it is: "At the cost of your humanity." 

Omelettes and eggs, I suppose. The Eldritch Edition includes local co-op support for up to four players, plus new areas to explore and a new quest chain with unique rewards and a brand-new boss, along with all the regular updates that have been released since Sundered launched.

Epic hasn't said yet what its long-term plan is—whether it intends to continue handing out games through some or all of 2020, or if this is just a bit of spillover bookkeeping. We'll let you know if and when it does, and for now, hey, it's another free game. Sundered: Eldritch Edition will be yours for the taking on the Epic Games Store between January 9-16.

Steam's Not a Metroidvania sale gathers Guacamelee, Salt and Sanctuary, Sundered and Dead Cells. Individually, you stand to save up to 40 percent on each game—or 50 percent if you buy them as a bundle. As the name of the sale suggests, these indie gems aim to sidestep the sweeping Metroidvania genre label. I like 'em all for different reasons.   

DrinkBox Studios' Guacamelee, for example, is a fast-firing explosion of combos and colour. Thunder Lotus Games' Sundered is a gorgeous sidescroller with some larger than life bosses (look at the teeny, tiny hero fighting that gigantic baddie in the header image above); while Motion Twin's Dead Cells boasts a dizzying array of weapons and uber-cool animations. 

Ska Studios' Salt and Sanctuary is a 2D Dark Souls-a-like. It's my favourite of the four, and as such gets a closer look:

"In these lovingly crafted 2D platformers, you'll explore and battle through unique non-linear worlds, discover new items and abilities which will allow you to progress beyond otherwise impassable obstacles, and revisit older areas along the way," says the sale's Steam blurb. "These games are proof that there's plenty of room for creative variation inside these simple rules of gameplay, but agreeing on a single term to describe them can be tough... May we suggest Castletroid? Vanimet?"

Call them what you like, but I assure you they're worth your time. With 40 percent off, Guacamelee's Super Turbo Championship Edition costs £6.89/$8.99, Salt and Sanctuary costs £8.15/$10.79, and Sundered costs £9.29/$11.99. With 33 percent off Dead Cells costs £11.38/$13.39. 

Together, the Not a Metroidvania sale gathers the lot for £28.56/$36.12. It runs from now till Friday, June 8. 

Sundered, the "replayable Metroidvania" with giant boss battles, is out now. In it, you slash and stab your way through a procedurally-generated 2D labyrinth, gradually unlocking new skills and abilities that help you delve deeper.

Developers Thunder Lotus (of Jotun)  want it to be tough as nails—one of the  elements of the "core gameplay" listed in the summary of the game is simply: "die". And when that happens you'll be hauled back to a central hub and have to set off again. 

But there's a clear progression system, with success in a given area netting you items that will let you access new areas of the map. There's also a branching skill tree and "hundreds of upgrades" to play with.

It's available on Steam, GOG, and Humble Store for £13.49/$17.99, which includes a 10% launch week discount. You can also pick it up on Uplay (sans discount) and Origin.

I've been trawling through the early Steam reviews and the two most common words seem to be "beautiful" and "frustrating". That might just sum it up: if you don't mind dying an awful lot then it will reward you with some gorgeous environments and set pieces (those boss battles really do look epic).

Here's the launch trailer:

Sundered, the Lovecraftian "replayable Metroidvania" being developed by Jotun studio Thunder Lotus Games, was announced last year and absolutely demolished its Kickstarter goal in January 2017, pulling in $200,000 CAD on a $25,000 CAD goal. But perhaps even more impressive is that the Kickstarter carried an estimated delivery date of July 2017, and today the studio confirmed that it's actually going to happen. 

Thunder Lotus announced today that Sundered will be out on Steam, GOG, Humble, Origin, and Uplay (and also the PlayStation Store, if that's your thing) on July 28. Steam and GOG preorders are live now at a ten percent discount, and to mark the looming release both sites are offering Jotun: Valhalla Edition, Thunder Lotus' previous game, for free (Steam here, GOG here) until 12 pm ET on July 17.

Sundered is a game which has steadily impressed me since Andy first reported on it last year. In case this is the first you're hearing of it, it's a two-dimensional eldritch horror-style Metroidvania from Jotun devs Thunder Lotus Games. According to creative director William Dubé, it requires players survive its "horrifying fight for survival and sanity"—something which often sees plays going toe-to-toe with some pretty formidable looking bosses, the majority of which tower high above the player.

Ahead of its launch next month, Thunder Lotus has teased the game's fourth boss, Nyarlathotep. Before you successfully wrap your tongue around that one, here's a glimpse of the beast in motion:

Not sure how we're expected to get through that one, but it's worth noting Sundered allows players to "resist or embrace the corrupting influence of ancient eldritch powers throughout the game" and as such this will have a "crucial impact" on the final battle. Interesting. 

"We’re truly excited to be lifting the curtain on Sundered’s climax, even if it is only for a short tease," says Dubé in a statement. "Here, we’re putting the stark contrasts at the thematic core of Sundered on full display. With the game into the home stretch of production, and our release is just around the corner in July, it’s tremendously satisfying to see it all coming together so beautifully now."

Sundered is due next month.

Billed as a Lovecraft-inspired "replayable Metroidvania", Sundered is the gorgeous sidescrolling fighter-platformer from Jotun developer Thunder Lotus that blew away its Kickstarter goal earlier this year. As it jumps, dives and slashes its way towards its July release, it's now launched a new trailer as it enters its closed beta phase today. 

Named Resist, the following short offers a glimpse at some of the game's world, a pretty epic-looking boss fight and even hints at its story via narration from General Waters, a fallen military leader from the Sundered’s Valkyrie faction.

As protagonist Eshe, the area depicted above is one of the game's earliest and the towering mask-donning boss is Xea'sh'kaebt—a corrupted priest from the game’s rival faction, the Eschatons.

"The Resist Trailer puts Sundered’s best foot forward," says Will Dubé, the creative director and president of Thunder Lotus Games in a statement. "The new region we’re revealing features some of the best work our team has ever produced, and I’m excited that so many of our fans will get to experience it in the Beta."

Sundered is due to land at some point in July, 2017, and its closed beta is available today to those who backed the Kickstarter earlier this year.

Yesterday, YouTube person Jesse Cox posted an extended playthrough of Sundered's beta which can be viewed below. Spoilers afoot, obviously:

Jotun developer Thunder Lotus Games announced Sundered last year as a "replayable Metroidvania, close to Rogue Legacy and Super Metroid," set in a Lovecraft-inspired world of eldritch horrors. Neither the Thunder Lotus website nor the Steam page had much to say about it at the time (although they've both since been updated), but last week the studio announced that a Kickstarter campaign would get under on January 16. So it did—and less than 24 hours later, it has easily surpassed its goal. 

Unlike a lot of Kickstarters, this one is focused on polish and balancing, rather than the full development process: The total budget for Sundered is $700,000 CAD, Thunder Lotus said in the Kickstarter pitch, while the Kickstarter goal is just $25,000. Elements the studio hopes to improve with the extra funding include overall balance and pace, special skill tree nodes, new perks, and "what exactly defines the core gameplay experience and how we can improve it." 

"We know how important feedback is and Jotun’s alpha and beta backers transformed the game into something special. We need you to tell us what we can do better," the studio wrote. "It's about polish, feedback and using Kickstarter funds to make Sundered the best it can be." 

The Kickstarter page also provides quite a bit of information about the game itself, which will feature both hand-crafted and procedural levels, six "massive" boss fights, "hordes of dynamically spawned eldritch monsters," exploration, secrets, character upgrades, multiple endings, and frequent death. Players will have seven major abilities, such as Double-Jump, Hook Shot, and Wall Run, each of them "corruptible" into a more powerful (but not necessarily desirable) version. "Ultimately, corrupting your abilities has important gameplay repercussions and even changes the game's ending, as how corrupted you are defines which boss you'll face," the studio said. 

The campaign, estimated at about ten hours in length, tells the tale of Eshe, a scavenger who discovers the source of power behind the Terror, a cataclysmic event that brought about the end of the world centuries ago.

"The backstory tells the tale of how this strange power attracted the Valkyries, an armed group of scientific revolutionaries, and the Eschaton, mad cultists following the teachings of an obscure god, to this place," the Kickstarter page says. "As she picks up the pieces, the player uncovers the conflict that sundered the world." 

The Kickstarter campaign, which at this moment is approaching $43,000 in pledges, runs until February 16, while Sundered is expected to be ready for launch in July. That could change, however, depending on how things unfold. "With Sundered, the complexity and amount of systems we're bringing together can cause our heads to spin, requiring a ton of balancing and polish," Thunder Lotus warned in the "Risks and Challenges" section of the Kickstarter page. "The amount of feedback we get from you guys can also impact our timeline, as we want to make sure that our backers are happy with the game before we ship it to the masses."  

Thunder Lotus Games, the maker of the Norse mythology action-exploration game Jotun, has announced a new project, based on a wholly different sort of pantheon, called Sundered. As creative director William Dub explained on the PlayStation Blog, it's a horrifying fight for survival and sanity in a ruined world filled with eldritch horrors.

Sundered is a game that builds on the strengths of Jotun: Hand-drawn art, epic boss battles, and great immersion, Dub said. However, we know Jotun was far from perfect. With Sundered, we ve added more complex mechanics, tons of replayability, and meaningful choices. We ve gone into a darker universe heavily inspired by Lovecraft s writings.

Dub described Sundered as mainly a replayable Metroidvania, close to Rogue Legacy and Super Metroid. The game world is procedurally generated, there will be multiple endings, and your abilities will be corruptible, which sounds interesting. Resist or embrace, as the tagline says. Harness the power of corrupted relics to defeat gigantic bosses, at the cost of your humanity.

There's not much to see yet at either Thunder Lotus' website or on Steam, but they're both live if you'd like to take a peek, and we've got a short trailer and some screens to look at too. Sundered is currently expected to be ready for launch sometime in 2017.